As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Monday, March 09, 2009

Murder In Harare

It was never fated to work. Robert Mugabe has been essentially a dictator for 30 years, and despite Morgan Tsvangirai's participation in the government as Prime Minister, it was clear that the power-sharing agreement would soon break down. I just didn't know that it would happen so fast or so brazenly:

Zimbabwe's prime minister believes the driver of the truck that struck his car, killing his wife, deliberately drove toward them, his party told CNN.

Members of his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, and former U.S. diplomat also say the crash raises suspicions of foul play.

The prime minister left a hospital Saturday, a day after his wife, Susan, was killed in the collision, officials said [...]

Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, speaking during a tearful press conference, said Tsvangirai should have had better security.

"If there had been a police escort maybe what happened yesterday could have not have happened," Biti said.

"(A) police escort would have warned oncoming vehicles of a VIP arriving. I think authorities must understand the omission.

"We hope that this omission will be rectified, that the prime minister must be given the protection that ought to be accorded to a prime minister."

You take your life in your hands just driving in Africa, so it's not implausible that this was just a tragic accident. But Mugabe has disposed of rivals in this fashion before. And he certainly wouldn't have any moral reason not to engage in gangland behavior.

Watch this unravel the entire power sharing agreement. And it brings up a significant question - with the African Union impotent, the UN unable to function and the US tied down in two wars, exactly who would enforce the peace in Zimbabwe if Mugabe was exposed as a murderer and chaos reigned?